ST. LOUIS - On this Election Day eve, there's already a potential wrench in the works at polling places in the City of St. Louis.

It’s not the rainy weather, but rather a lawsuit just filed in federal court.

The United States Department of Justice plans to have federal election monitors in 86 cities across 27 states on Election Day, including St. Louis.

However, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, both Republicans, have filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department, calling the monitoring plans “arbitrary and capricious." 

Ashcroft told FOX 2 Monday that state law did not allow federal monitors inside St. Louis polling places. He called the plan for federal monitors "political."

“This is the same Department of Justice that is operating under an executive order that President Joe Biden signed, telling them to get involved in elections and telling them to work with partisan third-party groups to get out the vote,” Ashcroft said. “There is no way in the world that they should be in our polling places.”

“There’s nothing political about it,” Denise Lieberman, a St. Louis election law attorney, added. “They are there simply to ensure that the jurisdictions they are monitoring are complying with applicable voting laws.”

Lieberman is also the director of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, which she says is nonpartisan and non-profit. It will have at least 500 volunteers outside St. Louis area polling places to help address issues voters may bring their way.

A 2021 agreement between the City of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners requires “timely access to polling places” in the city to monitor compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, which was the subject of litigation after the April 2019 city elections. The agreement expires in July 2025. Take, for instance, voters with mobility issues.

“Those voters have a right to vote curbside from their car by simply having someone alert a poll worker inside that they need curbside voting,” Lieberman said.

“If they were worried about whether buildings were ADA compatible or if there were problems, they could look at those before the election,” Ashcroft said. “We’re not rebuilding buildings in one day…in Missouri, we run good elections. We make it easy to vote, hard to cheat... and will stand up for the law in Missouri.”

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to issue a restraining order to keep federal monitors out of St. Louis polling places. 

The Department of Justice filed a motion Monday night, arguing that the 2021 agreement "preempts" Missouri law. The judge has yet to issue a ruling.